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Saturday, June 8, 2013

Sand & Stone

Sand
& Stone

Two
friends Ismail and Ibrahim were walking through the desert, as
the sun was beating down on their heads, and they were thirsty
for water they began to argue. The argument got more
and more heated and eventually Ismail struck Ibrahim across the
face. Ibrahim felt hurt inside but without anything to say, he
wrote in the sand: "Today, my best friend slapped me in the
face."
They kept on walking, until eventually they came across an oasis,
where they decided to stop and bathe. Ibrahim jumped in and began
to wash, while Ismail sat back and relaxed.
Suddenly Ibrahim began to scream and shout, he had developed a
cramp and was having difficulty keeping his head above water,
he was drowning.
Ismail dived in after him, and brought him gently to shore. When
Ibrahim recovered from the shock, he scratched a message on a
nearby stone:
"Today, my best friend saved my life"
Ismail who had saved and slapped his best friend Ibrahim, asked
him, "Why, after I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you
write on a stone?"
Ibrahim, smiled and replied:
"When a friend hurts us, we should write his deeds in the sand,
where the winds of forgiveness can blow it away, and when a friend
does something good, we should engrave it in stone, where it will
remain for eternity."
"Show forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the
foolish (i.e. don't punish them). And if an evil whisper comes
to you from Satan, then seek refuge from Allah. Verily, He is
All-Hearer and All- Knower.” [Surah al-Aa'raf 7:199-200]